SINCERE REPENTANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.'"

Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the Word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the Word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt."

When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."

Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God."

(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Exodus 9:17-35

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Through this account of Pharaoh and his obstinate refusal to obey what the God of Israel commanded, leading to terrible plagues unleashed against him and his people, we find him refusing to relent and submit, setting himself against God and the Israelite people. What he failed to realize is that this was a losing battle because if he believed God was going to give up and concede, he was badly mistaken.

Well, after the latest plague, one where festering boils broke out on all the Egyptian people, we see in our passage today from the closing verses of Exodus, chapter 9, where God continued to increase the intensity of His judgments, this time bringing on "the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation”. The scriptures tell us that all throughout Egypt, lightning flashed "down to the ground" and "back and forth" while "hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals”. The hail was so severe that it “beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree."

Essentially, the hail laid waste to everything in Egypt except in "the land of Goshen where the Israelites were" as God once again showed Pharaoh that He would protect His people, something Pharaoh had been unwilling to do for the Egyptians he ruled over.

Well, we read where the storm had quite an impact on Pharaoh…or so it seemed. For we see where he summoned Moses made the following confession:

"This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."

Now, this would almost sound like the prior hollow promises that Pharaoh had made except that we find him using the word "sinned" for the first time. We can see that the Pharaoh was a smart and crafty leader but he wasn’t smarter that Israel’s God. For when one looks at all that Pharaoh said, they can see a clue that indicates he isn’t truly sincere about his repentance. Note where he says, "This time I have sinned" which implied that he didn’t believe that he was wrong in any of the previous incidents where God brought judgment and Pharaoh would vow to let the Israelites go, only to renege on that promise.  

The truth of the matter is that Pharaoh doesn’t know how to tell the truth. And further, he has such little respect for Israel’s God that he feels he can just lie to Him at will. For after Moses "spread out his hands toward the Lord", stopping the thunder, hail and rain, Pharaoh "sinned again" and refused to let Israel go. It’s of little wonder why Moses says this to Egypt’s leader even before he goes back on his word:

"I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God."

Moses’ words rang true because no one took action when the threat of the hail storm was mentioned except a few Egyptians who "feared the word of the Lord" and "hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside."

In this scripture passage, we see a troubling attitude that is all too present in Christians today as well as non-believers. For Pharaoh carried an attitude of insincere repentance in his heart and put it on full display. He said that he had sinned, that Israel’s God was right and he and his people were wrong but he really didn’t mean it. One can only wonder what God must have been thinking as He looked into Pharaoh’s heart and saw nothing but a liar and a cheat.

All this brings a question to mind as we consider how to apply this to our own lives.

For how often do we repent before God, confessing our sins, only to turn right around and commit the same sin again?

When we do this, we essentially tell God that we’re sorry but then show that we really didn’t mean it for if we had, we wouldn’t go back and carry out the same sin again.

A few messages ago, I wrote about how actions speak louder than words and indeed, that principle is applicable here as well as the Lord speaks to us with the hope of keeping us from being modern day Pharaohs.

For our Lord doesn’t just want us to repent with our words of remorse but He wants to see us repent with actions as well. We can’t just say we’re going to turn things around and go in the opposite direction of our transgression. We have to actually do it, to show that we mean what we say and say what we mean.

Consider these scripture passages to reinforce this truth:

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

Here we find James, Jesus’ half-brother, talking about the Word of God, a Word that has these next things to say about repentance as we seek to be sincere in our desire to turn away from our sinful ways:

But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord's wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 2:25-26

He (God) tells them what they have done— that they have sinned arrogantly.

He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve Him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. Job 36:9-11

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' still they are swearing falsely."

“O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. I thought, ‘These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God.’" Jeremiah 5:1-4:

"The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? "Then they repented and said, 'The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'" Zechariah 1:2-6

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation." Isaiah 30:15

"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." Matthew 3:8

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow Me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him.

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to His disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:27-31

Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." Acts 19:4

"So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed." Romans 2:3-5

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. 2 Corinthians 7:10:

And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-26:

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9:

Friends, if you were to score yourself on the repentance scale, how would things turn out? Do you sincerely repent of your sins when you confess them or do you return to them as quickly as you say "Amen"?

The scriptures are clear that our Lord God expects and deserves sincere repentance as does our Savior Jesus who willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross so to bear the penalty for the sins we commit. Does Jesus feel that He sacrificed everything for us in vain every time we lift up a prayer of repentance with no real intent of stopping  the sin we’re confessing? It’s a question that should pierce our hearts as readily as the nails pierced His hands and feet.

When it comes down to sincere repentance, we only display it when we truly express our gratitude to Jesus for the blessed salvation and pardon He brought us as believers by doing everything in our power NOT to sin, period.

And before you start to think this is an impossibility, ponder this as a closing thought.

For Jesus was the only person to walk this earth who was sinless. If we place Him closer to us than anything else in life, we will be as sinless as we could possibly be as sinners this side of the Kingdom of Heaven. Although we will never be exactly like Jesus, we can aspire to emulate Him as much as possible and we can only do this by putting Him first in our heart, by putting His words in our mouths, by putting His thoughts in our minds, and by doing everything as He would do it, making His actions our actions.

Brothers and sisters, let’s all commit to not just tell God we’re sorry when we repent but show him in the way we live after repentance. I know I have a lot of work to do in this area and maybe you feel the same way.

Let’s all get to work and be better by doing better at being more like Jesus in every way, by putting Christ at the forefront of our identity as Christians.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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